CHENNAI: “It’s a kind of reward, I guess,” Heather Knight, England captain and member of the first group of cricketers from the country to receive the contracts in 2014, said in a response to England and Wales Cricket Board’s announcement of equal match fees to men and women players.
“From what has been a remarkable summer and talks about the women’s game, playing a big role in the sport and things like The Hundred putting the women’s game alongside the men’s (is vital). This (equal match fees) is backing that up with not just words but actions as well. Boards around the world have started to do it. This is another good step forward,” Knight said.
ECB’s decision comes after three national boards, New Zealand, India, and South Africa announced the match fee parity for their men’s and women’s teams. ICC, the governing body of cricket, too in July announced prize money parity for all global events from hereon. Australia, champions of the T20 World Cup 2020 and 2023, received $1 million from the ICC while the men’s prize money was $1.6 million. After New Zealand Cricket announced ‘same pay for same work’ in July 2022, India became only the second country to announce the match-fee parity for the contracted players in October 2022. Speaking on that occasion, former Indian captain and the then member of BCCI’s Apex Council, Shantha Rangaswamy, was delighted to see the growth.
“It is revolutionary because India has taken this step ahead of England and Australia,” she had told this daily. Recently, South Africa, the runners-up of the 2023 T20 World Cup, came up with the policy to uplift the women’s side.
Notably, Australia, the no.1 ranked women’s ODI and T20I team, do not share an equal match fee with their male counterparts. But the recent MoU between the Australian Players’ Association and Cricket Australia makes cricket one of the most lucrative sports for women in the country. Given the increasing popularity of women’s sports, not just cricket, all over the world, more eyeballs are watching the space than ever before. Cricket boards, historically known for their conservative approach toward women’s game, are now looking to invest because of the potential returns. Record-breaking crowds for the Women’s Ashes or sold-out stadiums for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League in India are the indication that the women’s game is here to stay.
But, as the saying goes, ‘the devil lies in the details.’ For now, the equal match fee in England is limited to the players representing the national side. The pay gap between the international players and the domestic ones still remains huge. Along with that, there is still a gap between the number of matches and formats the two sides get to play. Since January 2020, England men have played 142 internationals, including 47 Tests, while the women have played only 87.
Another important aspect of these negotiations is the Players’ Association standing by their players in many countries. New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association and Australian Cricketers’ Association have played a vital role in increasing the bargaining power of the players. The Professional Cricketers’ Association has worked behind the scenes to make the changes happen in England.
“I think PCA has played a huge role in that. I want to thank them for getting us to this point,” Knight said.
Women’s cricket has come a long way since the days when female cricketers were handed invoices after their tours and were not the priority of the boards. That more boards are now starting to give equal match fee is a step in the right direction, but there is a larger picture. This is just the beginning and not the end of pay equality for women cricketers.
